[MilCom] NavNews for Wednesday, November 02, 2005]

[Greg Brazil]

                                    -USN-

  NNS051102-02. Abe, CVW-2 Stay "Ready" With Quarterly Surge
  Training

  By Journalist 3rd Class Michael Cook, USS Abraham Lincoln
  Public Affairs

  USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN, At Sea (NNS) -- USS Abraham
  Lincoln (Abe) (CVN 72) rejoined Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 2 and
  its more than 2,000 attached personnel for quarterly sustainment
  training in support of the Navy's Fleet Response Plan, Oct. 30.

  While Abe and attached personnel may only be out to sea for a
  few weeks, a lot is being done to make sure everyone is up to
  speed and fit to fight at any time.

  "Right now we are in a surge mode," said Lt. Clint Cody of Abe's
  operations department. "We have to maintain a certain amount of
  mission readiness at all times. Right now, we're required to be at
  the most forward-leaning posture, in order to be ready to be called
  upon if something happens that would require us to go out to sea."

  While underway this quarter, Lincoln will host Fleet Readiness
  Squadron (FRS) training pilots, who will be landing on the
  four-and-a-half acre flight deck for their carrier qualifications
  (CQ).

  "We're going to do approximately four days of FRS CQs," Cody
  said. "We'll have new pilots from various platforms learn how to
  land on a flight deck. They've had one opportunity prior to this to
  actually land on a carrier, but this will be the first time that they'll
  be doing both day and night CQs."

  After completing training with the FRS pilots, Lincoln will join up
  with the crew of CVW-2.

  "CVW-2 will be doing a few days of CQs, while both the Lincoln
  Strike Group (ALCSG) and Reagan Strike Group (RRSG) will be
  doing dual scenarios," Cody said.

  Even though this is a training situation, the dual battle group
  scenario is something that could become real in the future.

  "They (Commander, U.S. 3rd Fleet) want us to do coordinated
  efforts and actually get out there and practice working two
  carriers together in a small area," Cody said. "It requires a lot of
  coordination and a lot of aircraft in the air, so they want us to
  practice it before we find ourselves doing it for real if the situation
  arises."

  Ultimately, maintaining readiness is the name of the game for the
  ALCSG, and completing training now allows the crew to enjoy a
  holiday season with families, which is something they weren't able
  to do while deployed last year.

  "If you look at the schedule, we're actually completing this training
  early," he said. "One of the reasons we came out early is that this
  will get us through the holiday period, allow for some time off, and
  get us ready for INSURV (Board of Inspection and Survey) in the
  early part of next year."

  Although Lincoln and CVW-2 Sailors may only be out to sea for a
  relatively short amount of time in the sense of a conventional
  deployment, the training and professional knowledge gained will
  probably prove to be long lasting in order to keep the ALCSG at
  the Navy's warfighting tip of the spear.

  For related news, visit the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) Navy
  NewsStand page at www.news.navy.mil/local/cvn72/.